Full disclosure, I’m a mixed young adult with a black father and a white mother, my father is 74 years old. He had me in his late 40′s and Jackie Robinson was one of his idols and he would talk to me about him all the time. So, when I watched this trailer of ‘42,’ I got goose bumps all over.

Brian Helgland wrote and directed this new film ‘42.’ Folks, the man knows how to write a screenplay. He wrote Man on Fire, Adapted Mystic River, LA Confidential, and Payback among other films. He also directed A Knight’s Tale and The Order which was a flop, that momentarily cost film him his directing career. However he’s back now with ‘42,’ a film that should get heavy buzz if nothing else.

The film stars Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey the famous baseball executive who had the guts to break the color barrier and sign the first Africa American baseball player to the Major Leagues. He would later draft Hispanic superstar, Roberto Clemente too, paving the way for South American baseball players to play in the majors. He was a fine man who was inducted into the hall of fame in 1967

With Jackie Robinson, the film portrays the tough times of the late 40′s when he broke in as a big leaguer. He was chastised by many in the black community for not fighting back, but allowing himself to be embarrassed and ridiculed in many stadiums and turning the other cheek. It took about 20 years for the real story to come out, Harrison Fords Branch Rickey choose Jackie, not only for his talent, but for his temperament, and for having the guts to turn the other cheek — it’s a hard thing to do, and a lesser man would have retaliated and that would have feed into the narrative of undisciplined black men and set blacks in baseball back for another 10 years.

I truly can’t wait to see this film, I think his story is one that has to be told because no matter how far we have come, and even with a black man as President, many African Americans still feel like they are unfairly being held back because of their color. When the truth is, they’re being held back because of their attitudes.

The life story of Jackie Robinson and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey.

The Jackie Robinson Bio-Pic, ’42,’ will be in theaters on April 13, 2013 and also stars Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black, T.R. Knight and Nicole Beharie. Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute the film.